“In August, we will launch the beta version of our new promoted video offering which provides a way for high quality content producers and brands [to] easily upload, share and measure the distribution and effectiveness of their video content on Twitter,” Mr. Noto said.

Bloomberg News

What is this new promoted video product exactly? Twitter already has a product called Amplify that lets advertisers and media companies promote video content to potentially interested Twitter users based on data. And Twitter has partnered with sports leagues and ESPN to promote highlights, such as short college football clips accompanied by ads.

But reading between the lines, this new “promoted video offering” sounds different, in that brands and content producers will be able to upload and promote content. That implies an openness that could invite lots more video companies to start posting to Twitter without necessarily having to strike big partnerships with the company–again, theoretically. Presumably content creators would be able to upload such video content to Twitter for free and pay to feature these videos using Twitter ads.

Could all this lead to Twitter becoming another outlet for brands like Red Bull, that have built huge followings on YouTube, or YouTube native talents such as Freddie Wong and Bethany Mota to cultivate audiences outside of YouTube? Many in the YouTube realm have pined for an alternative platform, complaining about YouTube’s practice of taking a hefty 45% cut of advertising. That’s led to all sorts of speculation that Yahoo or Amazon may come along with a better set of terms.

Twitter streams are increasingly becoming filled with multimedia. And Twitter surely wants in on the growing online video ad revenue pie. Plus, as Twitter strives to become more palatable to mainstream consumers, more video would seem to help–bringing lots more recognizable names and faces to the platform.

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